Introduction

It’s likely that your business already has some initiatives that save resources, protect the environment or otherwise contribute to sustainability – initiatives that look beyond pure financial considerations to include social and environmental aspects. Although some small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are motivated entirely by environmental concerns, others are saving resources and greening production to reduce operating costs, innovate and remain competitive.

Sustainability offers SMEs a competitive advantage since their smaller size and staff allows them to be more flexible integrating sustainability into their business, making them more responsive and adaptive to shifting markets. Canadian companies are known for their flexibility in responding to the fluctuating Canadian dollar, and scaling up or down in response to changes in trading with the US. There are many opportunities for small businesses in what is called the “green economy”, as innovators retool to expand existing product lines or adapt their offerings to supply parts to clean tech firms. 

Given that SMEs account for 99.8% of enterprises, 60% of employment, and 57% of gross domestic product in Canada, they are an essential partner in the country’s action on climate change, resource conservation and other areas of environmental management. This roadmap is intended to assist SMEs in their work to manage their social and environmental impacts, develop products and services that meet the needs of a greening market, and show leadership on climate change, poverty, and other pressing environmental and social issues.

How to Use the Roadmap

The roadmap is intended to be modular – you can drop in to any section and you will find a concise guide to the topic area. However, each section is also part of a larger area of management, operations or leadership. The business case is a stand-alone document.

This roadmap applies to both product- and service-based businesses. However, some modules are more relevant than others depending on your focus. If you are a product-based business, all but the Services module apply to you. If you are a service-based business, read the Services module for context first, and then refer to all other modules except Product Development, which is specifically focused on products.

Many examples of sustainability in practice are offered throughout the document. Where possible, they refer to the practices of SMEs. In some cases, however, examples that refer to larger companies are included for illustrative purposes.